This invention relates to a manually operated copier which comprises not only an image reading means which is manually operated to scan an original document for reading an image on its surface and a printing means for printing on a given sheet of paper the image thus read but also a transportation roller for transporting the sheet of paper out of the copier housing.
In general, the cost and the size of an electrophotographic copier can be reduced only to certain limits determined by its structure. The copy paper must have at least the size of a postcard, or that of a business card in the case of a miniature copier such as one of a desk-top type. When the original document to be copied is extremely small, it is sometimes necessary to perform a preparatory process such as pasting it on a larger sheet of paper before feeding it to the copier. For this reason, there was considered a manually operated copier which is comprised of a small image-reading means such as a CCD and a small printing means such as a thermal printer inside a portable housing and is manually operated to scan an original document to read the image thereon and to print the image on a sheet of paper contained inside. A manually operated copier of this type, however, has the disadvantage of requiring during its manual scanning process that the operator hold an edge of the paper on which the image is printed and pull it out of the copier housing through a transportation roller. Another disadvantage of such a conventional copier is that the image which has been read cannot be correctly printed unless the original document to be copied is scanned at a uniform speed and the sheet of printing paper is pulled out also at a constant rate.